Deep Throat

By now you've probably heard the "sensational" news about the Watergate source code-named "Deep Throat" finally being revealed, as the then number two man at the FBI, former Director W. Mark Felt. The MSM is all over this story, trying as hard as they can to create an instant hero in Mr. Felt, and in reliving what must be the most glorious days in living memory for the MSM.

As many have pointed out, there are good reasons to wonder about Felt's motives — and even better reasons to question his actions, whatever his motives were. Any law enforcement office with knowledge of a crime has an obligation to report that crime — not to a newspaper reporter as a secret source, but through ordinary law enforcement channels. Even if one were to buy the argument (that some have made) that Felt had good reason to be suspicious of his superiors, then there were still other legitimate channels he could have pursued. For instance, he could have spilled his guts to any ranking Democrat — the political process would have ensured that Watergate was fully exposed, just as it was after the press reported it. So why did Felt take this route? Almost certainly for the most pedestrian of reasons: it was the safest thing for him to do personally. Not hero stuff in my book.

From the always-informative Captain's Galley, here's another interesting and related tidbit. It seems that this story (about Felt being Deep Throat) has been being shopped for several years, by his family members who are interested in making some money from the story. And it's been turned down at least a couple of times by enterprising MSM journalists who did not believe it was ethical to pay for a story, or who couldn't get reliable enough information to pursue a book deal. My current sense of journalistic ethics in the MSM is such that I have to think that either this story is incredibly rotten, or that the journalists involved are unusually principled. An excerpt from the Captain's Galley story:

Even Felt himself claimed during several sections of the taped interviews that Woodward made up the source Deep Throat.

"I just thought he was making it up," the then 90-year-old Felt told my partner. ...

The problem with Felt is that three summers before, he had suffered a stroke and briefly was sent to recuperate in a convalescent home. ... On Nov. 8, 2003, Felt told my writing partner when asked if he wanted to come forward: "You can tell them that I am Deep — that I was Deep Throat. The only thing is that Deep Throat is a little different than you probably have in mind. Deep Throat was not anybody real inside that was furnishing information. It was somebody confirming information."

Then Felt described his motive for coming clean then: "I guess I want some money for my family."

Earlier in that same interview, Felt said he didn't remember anything about Deep Throat, even saying at one point: "Well, I wasn't a Deep Throat."

Of Woodward, he said: "I don't think I ever provided information to him."

Later, Felt said: "I thought Deep Throat was another source entirely."

Don't miss the rest of the posting; it's fascinating stuff...